Come To Think Of It: Chicago Bears Problems Start at The Top
Published by Bob Warja on November 17, 2009
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Count me among the throng of Bears fans calling for the heads of Lovie Smith and Ron Turner. But in actuality, that would only be like putting a tourniquet on a gushing wound. If we really want to fix what ails the Bears, we need to address the root cause, and that’s the organization itself.
Look, let’s be clear: this isn’t a reaction to the comments made by Rex Grossman’s dad recently. In case you hadn’t heard, Dan Grossman talked about how it’s not the player, it’s the organization that causes failure.
No, his whining isn’t what prompted this article. Let’s look at the Bears hierarchy for a moment.
Mama Bear, Virginia McCaskey, technically controls the Bears. But let’s face it, by all accounts she may be one helluva lady, but she leaves the internal workings of the team to Ted Phillips and her grandchildren. Phillips is the President and CEO of the Chicago Bears.
Phillips may not be very visible to Bears fans but he likes it that way. He hired Jerry Angelo to be his football man and mouthpiece, and entrusts him and Lovie with obtaining and developing the players that will take us to another championship.
Phillips is a bean counter who isn’t a football expert. He’s a step above Michael McCaskey, to be sure, in terms of football IQ, but that isn’t saying much.
If Phillips and the other management types know football, why did Phillips need to employ a search firm to hire Angelo? Why did this team go 14 years without a GM?
As to Michael McCaskey, while it’s always fun to throw him under the bus (hey, perhaps the same bus the Bears come off of running? lol), he really does not engage in the day to day operations of the Bears any longer.
Mrs. McCaskey fired her son Michael as president following the Dave McGinnis fiasco in 1999.
Michael is the CEO, however, and when his mother dies, he may assume main responsibility for the team.
That is, if he can afford to control at least 20 percent of the team upon his mother’s death. I shudder at the thought.
You see, the league now requires a single individual to own at least 20 percent of a club, so if the 11 grandchildren with ownership stakes were to assume voting control, one may need to buy out some of the others to reach the league threshold.
Much of Michael McCaskey’s wealth is believed to be tied into his share of the team, however, so whether he would have the means to buy out his relatives is unclear. He would be constrained from borrowing against the team by NFL debt regulations.
Other logical successors could include Andrew McKenna and Aon Corporation founder Pat Ryan, who purchased 20 percent of the team in 1990.
But for now at least, the question is where is the accountability? Well, since the Bears are profitable, Phillips and the McCaskeys really don’t have to hold Jerry and Lovie accountable for their actions. In fact, I can almost hear the Bears president thinking:
Bad drafting? OK. A failed defense scheme? We can live with that. A losing season? Well, just give us a winning season every couple years and we’ll be fine. That Super Bowl in 2006? Now, we can feed off of that for awhile, as long as we’re making money.
There is simply no leadership emanating from the front office. I wish Virginia would do the right thing and fire Lovie and Jerry and go outside the organization to seek opinions on hiring a solid football man.
Sadly, that’s not going to happen and you can’t tell me it’s only because of the money owed them. Hell, the Bears are worth more than a billion dollars; it’s about control of the Bears family fortune and yes, it’s about ego.
Ted Phillips was the first outsider brought in to run the football operations. But he earned the family’s trust by watching over the family purse as a tough contract negotiator.
The Bears have been like a toy played with by spoiled rich brats. It’s time the fans recognized where the real problem lies. Here’s a quote from Virginia McCaskey from 2007:
“It was a bumpy road a lot of times, how I should sell the team and give Chicago competent ownership. OK, maybe I’m not competent , but Ed and I found the people to do the job.”
Oh, did you really Mrs. McCaskey? I don’t think so. It’s time to start over, come to think of it.
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